In This Issue

The Even Keel Cafe:
A Relaxing Retreat in the Heart of Town

Hot summer days are here, making the few island options for outdoor dining more inviting than ever.  It’s hard to believe that a quiet, shady, relaxing retreat can be found in the heart of bustling Main Street—the back patio of Even Keel Café. 

This spacious two-level brick patio enclosed by a tall ivy-covered wall is as large as the Even Keel’s indoor dining room.  A large oak tree, sculpture, hanging baskets, potted plants and flowers, and lights that twinkle in the evening make this patio feel like a private garden.  It’s the ideal place to escape and recharge.

If the weather drives you indoors, the Even Keel has the pleasant ambiance of a seaside resort cafe, high ceilings adorned with old-fashioned tin ornamentation, large windows that look out over Main Street, and service that is welcoming and prompt.  Just beyond the hostess station is a long counter with nine tall wicker stools.  This is a favorite perch for anyone stopping in for a quick meal.  The rest of the dining room is filled with café style tables.  There’s a friendly clatter of dishes and the hum of conversation typical of so many favorite local hangouts.

Even Keel even has a small service bar well positioned to watch the action.  This café has more than 15 wines by the glass and by the bottle along with a fun selection of martinis, margaritas, frozen drinks, and specialty cocktails. 

A display case filled with tempting pastries, muffins, cookies, scones, croissants, and other tantalizing treats keeps the front of the restaurant bustling with activity.  A “grab-and-go” case has salads, mixed fruit, yogurt, sandwiches, and cold beverages ready for those in a hurry to “grab” and get to the beach, to the boat, or back to work.  And the range of Carrabassett coffees, espresso, lattes, and specialty coffees brings in a steady stream of residents and visitors throughout the day.

Even Keel has quite a folllowing for breakfast and for lunch, and it’s no wonder!  Lobster Eggs Benedict, Steak and Eggs, and Huevos Rancheros are just a few of the hearty choices.  For a light start, there is Homemade Granola, a Bagel with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese, a Veggie-Loaded Egg White Scramble, Fresh Mixed Berries, or one of the selection of baked goods.  Add to these options a Breakfast Burrito, Hurricane French Toast, Tofu Scramble, Corned Beef Hash, Buttermilk Pancakes, and just about every version of eggs you can think of, and you understand why Even Keel Café is such a popular choice for breakfast!

Because Even Keel serves breakfast until noon (till 3 pm on Sundays), you can sleep in and still enjoy breakfast at this Main Street landmark.

Lunch starts an hour before breakfast ends, making it possible to feast on a stack of Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes while your companion chows down on a cheeseburger with bacon and guacamole.  Even Keel’s lunch menu offers a broad selection.  Soups, salads, two types of pizza, Nachos, a classic Lobster Roll, Grilled Sea Bass Sandwich, Grilled Corned Beef Reuben, Char-Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Lobster BLT, Garden Burger, and more.

All the lunch selections are served till closing, and at 5 p.m. the dinner entrees are added to the mix, making the choices for your evening meal two pages long!

The starters listed on the menu are offered from 11 am through closing, and many are ideal for sharing.  Lobster Nachos are a patron favorite.  The   tortilla chips are  topped with cheddar cheese, black beans, roasted corn, red peppers, and plenty of lobster meat.  Sour cream, guacamole, and red chile sauce are served alongside.

	The Crispy Tuna Basil Roll, new this season, is a welcome addition to the Even Keel menu.  Warm and crunchy on the outside and cool and tender inside, these are exactly as the name describes:  tuna rolled in basil leaves coated in an egg roll type of shell.  They’re served with a slightly spicy and very tasty dipping sauce of teriyaki, ginger, and wasabi.
	Shrimp, Scallop, and Crab Cakes are another good choice.  They are similar in texture to a classic New England codfish cake, and you can taste each type of seafood—the shrimp, the scallop, and the crab.  These come with a slightly spicy (the menu reads “zesty” and we’d agree) remoulade, mixed greens and slices of tomato.
	One of our favorite starters on the Even Keel summer menu is the Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni.  Served in a pair, the two rolls arrive piping hot, so be careful.  Pieces of grilled chicken and spinach leaves in a flavorful blend of mozzarella, fontina, and parmesan cheese are rolled in pastry, fried, and served with a red pepper cream sauce.  These are also served with a simple side salad.
	Salads at Even Keel are hearty enough to make a very satisfying summer meal.  Both the Chicken Caesar and the Grilled Steak Caesar are excellent, and seafood lovers will enjoy the Grilled Wild Salmon Salad, with sweet sundried cranberries and glazed pecans and carrots, goat cheese, and pomegrante vinaigrette.  We tried and adored the Keel’s Lobster Caesar Salad.  It’s a simple concept:  a very well done caesar salad topped with a very well concocted lobster salad, with both big chunks and shreds of fresh lobster in a light and well-seasoned dressing.
The Cornflake Crusted Cod is the closest thing to a signature dish served at Even Keel.  The moist and meaty codfish is rolled in finely crushed cornflakes to give it a crunchy coating.  A refreshing chilled cucumber dill salsa garnishes the cod.  Another very flavorful entree choice is the Thai Green Curry, which can be vegetarian or can be ordered with chicken.  This dish is a bit on the spicy side, so consider ordering it with a tall chilled glass of local Whale’s Tale Pale Ale or a Sankaty Light.
	One of our favorite entrees this season is the Pomegranate Glazed Salmon.   The fish filet is perfectly cooked:  light golden on the edge of the thin side, moist and flaky throughout.  The pomegranate glaze painted over it adds an appealing fruity sweetness, but it’s light enough so that you can still enjoy the flavor of the fresh salmon.  This entree is served with a side of jasmine rice and beautifully cooked vegetables.  We don’t often devote such praise to an accompaniment, but the mixed vegetables that come with every dinner entree we sampled—broccoli, asparagus, and julienne of carrot, squash, and zucchini—were tender-crisp, full of flavor, and delicious.
	Steak Gorgonzola will please any beef lover.  Impressively tender beef tenderloin medallions, marinated and grilled, are nestled against a delicious linguini alfredo (we would have loved more of the luscious sauce on the pasta).  Gorgonzola cheese is crumbled overtop the steak, and drizzles of balsamic add a final tangy touch.
	We also thoroughly enjoyed the Stuffed Chicken Breast.  Roasted tomato, spinach leaves, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses add bold flavor to the plump, succulent chicken.  The breast is skin-on, and the skin adds a sinfully delicious, crisp saltiness to the entree.  Served alongside is fettucine with a creamy, chunky mushroom sauce that is also very good with the chicken.
	Another new dish for the summer dinner menu is Pan-Seared Pork Tenderloin.  The pork is sliced and served in a delightful sauce of caramelized onion and apricot that adds hints of sweetness to the meat.  The mashed yukon gold potatoes served alongside are just the thing for mopping up every drop of the sauce.
	Any time of day is a good time for dessert, and at Even Keel Café you can have it any time you want!   All the choices are indulgent and very good, particularly the Lemon Berry Cream Cake, the Key Lime Pie, and the spicy Carrot Cake.  Their Brownie Sundae is fun to share, and their Mississippi Mud Pie, with coffee mousse in a chocolate cookie shell topped with thick chocolate topping, is fabulous but could send you into chocolate overdrive.

Even Keel Café

www.evenkeelcafe.com
40 Main Street  •  508-228-1979  •  open year-round
Breakfast daily 8 a.m. to 12 noon  Sunday Brunch 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Lunch daily 11 a.m. to closing
Dinner nightly from 5 p.m.
Dinner entrees $16.00 to $22.50
(light fare also served at dinner priced from $9.75 to $17.50)
Indoor & Outdoor Dining  •  Full Bar
Children Welcome  •  Casual Dress  •  Take-out Available
major credit cards accepted